Improved Test of Local Lorentz Invariance from a Deterministic Preparation of Entangled States

The high degree of control available over individual atoms enables precision tests of fundamental physical concepts. In this Letter, we experimentally study how precision measurements can be improved by preparing entangled states immune to the dominant source of decoherence. Using Ca-40(+) ions, we explicitly demonstrate the advantage from entanglement on a precision test of local Lorentz invariance for the electron. Reaching the quantum projection noise limit set by quantum mechanics, we observe, for bipartite entangled states, the expected gain of a factor of two in the precision. Under specific conditions, multipartite entangled states may yield substantial further improvements. Our measurements improve the previous best limit for local Lorentz invariance of the electron using Ca-40(+) ions by a factor of two to four to about 5 x 10(-19).